Mayors to Define Priorities, Strategy
for Presidential Campaign and Transition During 68th Annual Conference in
SeattleVice President Gore to Speak on Friday, June
9

By Ed SomersMay 29,
2000

As the nation prepares to elect
the next President of the United States, more than 300 mayors will gather
in Seattle June 9-13 for the 68th Annual Conference of Mayors.

The meeting will be presided over
by Mayor Wellington E. Webb of Denver, President of The U.S. Conference of
Mayors, and hosted by Seattle Mayor Paul Schell.

Vice President Al Gore will
participate in a plenary session with the nationís mayors on Friday, June
9th at 2:00pm. Texas Governor George W. Bush has also been invited, and is
being strongly encouraged by both Republican and Democratic mayors, to
participate in the Seattle meeting.

Both Gore and Texas Governor
George W. Bush have been asked to respond to the Conferenceís new 10-point
plan: A New Agenda for Americaís Cities, and to present their respective
agendas for the nationís metropolitan areas (see www.usmayors.org for a
copy of the New Agenda). To prepare for this discussion, both campaigns
sent their top policy directors to meet with the Leadership of the
Conference of Mayors on February 25 in Key West.

To help further define the policy
agenda for the Conference of Mayors, and to discuss the transition
priorities of the nationís mayors for the next administration, a special
leadership meeting will be held on Saturday morning led by the
Conferenceís officers: President Webb, Vice President H. Brent Coles of
Boise, and Advisory Board Chair Marc H. Morial of New Orleans.

President Clinton has also been
invited to attend the Seattle gathering. In addition, Housing and Urban
Affairs Secretary Andrew Cuomo will present the 4th Annual State of the
Cities Report during the Seattle meeting. Plenary speakers will also
include Fannie Mae Chairman Franklin Raines, and Freddie Mac official
Dwight Robinson. There will also be discussions related to urban parks and
the changing demographics in cities.

A major lunch will be held Friday
on breast cancer and prostrate cancer awareness, and the Twenty-First City
Livability Awards luncheon will be held on Saturday.

The meeting will begin on Friday
with a meeting of the Women Mayors, a Habitat for Humanity/Home
Construction, an orientation session for new mayors, and a series of
important task force meetings.

The policy committees of the
Conference will meet on Saturday, June 10 to consider new resolutions,
which will be presented to the entire membership for consideration on
Monday morning, June 12.

The Mayors Business Council
session on Monday morning will focus on the critical issue of the "skills
gap in cities."

A special celebration will be
held on Saturday, June 10 for Conference President Webb, and the final
event of the meeting will be a Tuesday plenary session and inaugural
breakfast for the next President of The U.S. Conference of
Mayors.

In addition, an informative and
exciting event schedule is being arranged by Mayor Schell which will
highlight the very best of Seattle.